March 31, 2025—Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) has received schedule confirmation for an ARISS radio contact between an astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and students at the Université de Namur asbl located in Namur, Belgium. ARISS conducts 60-100 of these special amateur radio contacts each year between students around the globe and crew members with ham radio licenses aboard the ISS.
The University of Namur offers a wide range of academic programs and is located in the heart of the Walloon capital in Belgium. First-year science students act as ambassadors for rendering science accessible to all by reaching out to high school students and demonstrating that science can be fun. As part of a popular science competition designed by their English lecturers, 18-year-old students were challenged to create a two-minute video explaining a scientific concept related to space, aimed at 16- to 17-year-olds. More than 300 pairs of first-year students took part in the competition. A multidisciplinary jury selected seven finalist teams, who then had the opportunity to refine their work in a professional studio, coached by camera operators, science communicators, and English lecturers.
An online vote was organized, allowing high school students to choose their favorite videos. The three winning pairs showed the courage to step out of their comfort zone and engage with a lay audience, proving that science can be fun, useful, and inspiring. As a reward, they will spend time in a space park, experiencing simulated microgravity conditions similar to those on the ISS. They will also have the unique opportunity to ask these questions during this ARISS contact.
This will be a telebridge Contact via Amateur Radio allowing students to ask their questions of astronaut Don Pettit, amateur radio call sign KD5MDT. The downlink frequency for this contact is 145.800 MHz and may be heard by listeners that are within the ISS-footprint that also encompasses the telebridge station.
The ARISS amateur radio ground station (telebridge station) for this contact is in Casale Monferrato, Italy. The amateur radio volunteer team at the ground station will use the call sign, IK1SLD to establish and maintain the ISS connection.
The ARISS radio contact is scheduled for April 2, 2025 at 5:11 pm CEST (Belgium) (15:11 UTC, 11:11 am EDT, 10:11 am CDT, 9:11 am MDT, 8:11 am PDT).
_______________________________
As time allows, students will ask these questions:
1. What advice would you give to young girls who dream of working in space exploration?
2. What was your academic path, and what personal initiatives did you take to achieve your goal?
3. How does the absence of gravity truly affect your perception of time and space on a daily basis?
4. How do you manage your food stock? Do you grow your own food in the ISS?
5. Can you describe how it feels to eat in space and how different is it from eating on Earth?
6. Do you ever get bored in the ISS? And if so, what do you do?
7. What are the most surprising mental challenges you’ve encountered in space?
8. What were the scientific goals of your latest mission in space and what practical applications has it had for humankind?
9. Do you work on designing tools that can counter cosmic radiation?
10. Will there be another project to replace the ISS, and what will be its purpose?
11. What’s the hardest thing to do in microgravity conditions?
12. What’s something that is surprisingly easier to do in microgravity than on Earth?
13. Can you briefly describe a typical day in the ISS?
14. How has seeing Earth from space changed your perspective on life?
15. Do we know of the existence of a planet with liquid water on its surface?
16. How important is mastering English for an astronaut?